Self-organized metallic nanoparticle and nanowire arrays from ion-sputtered silicon templates

We demonstrate a production method for self-organized arrays of metal nanoparticles and aligned nanowires. Ion beam-sputtered $Si∕SiO2$ substrates are used as templates for metallic vapor deposition, forming aligned arrays of $5–20nm$ silver and cobalt nanoparticles with a period of $35nm$⁠. The $20nm$ diameter cobalt nanowires with lengths in excess of a micrometer are produced under appropriate conditions. All processing steps can be integrated into a single vacuum chamber and performed in a matter of minutes at mild temperatures. This inherently scalable technique can be extended to a range of substrate materials, array patterns, and nanoparticle materials.